An international group of scientists have sequenced the genome for the pigeon pea, just days after Indian scientists announced they had decoded the plant’s genome; the pea, which is more commonly grown in rural backyards than large fields, is the first non-industrial crop to have had its genome sequenced.

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Years of genome analysis by Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) led to the breakthrough. The international research on the pigeon pea, also known as arhar or chana dal, was carried out by Indian scientists in conjunction with institutes in China and the USA.

ICRISAT’s findings were reported in journal Nature Biotechnology on Sunday. The researchers behind both breakthroughs said they hoped their findings would lead to improvements in breeding programs for pigeon pea, which has seen a 56 per cent increase in global production since 1976.

Scientists from the team which decoded the pigeon pea genome said new varieties, bred following the decoding of the genome, could potentially raise its productivity threefold; low yields have previously prevented the plant being grown on a larger scale, although the crop is grown on around 5 million hectares in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South-Central America.

The pulse is a staple food for millions of people in semi-arid regions, often grown on smallholdings, according to ICRISAT. The institute’s Director William Dar said, "The mapping of the pigeonpea genome could not have come at a better time. Now that the world is faced with hunger and famine particularly in the ‘Horn of Africa’ brought about by the worst drought of the decades, science-based sustainable agricultural development solutions are vital in extricating vulnerable dryland communities out of poverty and hunger for good.

"Modern crop improvement technologies for smallholder farmer crops such as pigeonpea will be crucial to speed up the development of improved varieties that can provide high yields and improved livelihoods."

Rajeev Varshney, who led the ICRISAT research, shared his hopes for the findings, "at the moment, in general, it can take 6-10 years to breed a new variety. With the use of this genome sequence data, in the future, we could be breeding a new variety in just about 3 years."